Hiking with the wolves had been fun but Stiles was not a werewolf, they could not romp around the woods for hours without running out of stamina. They just knew that they would be sore all over tomorrow.
They were not only sore but stuck in the car for hours the next day. The drive back to New York felt way longer than the one in the other direction. It sucked.
It was almost nine in the evening when they finally reached the Hale place. By now Stiles just wanted to crawl into bed, they weren't up to socializing especially not with people they barely knew but the promise of food got them out of the car.
"You're late," Kira greeted them when they stumbled through the door.
"Not my fault." Laura dropped her bag right next to the door and with two long strides, she closed the distance between them. "Little brothers are the worst. Save me."
Dramatically she clung to the shorter woman who closed her arms around her more out of reflex than anything else.
"What did he do?" Over Laura's shoulder, she threw a questioning look at Derek who just shrugged.
Seeing the two women together reminded Stiles that they had to hash out their bet with Derek once they were alone. The way Laura and Kira were just casually in each other's space made Stiles rethink their estimate from earlier. If nothing major happened with the new betas Kira would be pack within a week.
"Being annoying," Laura answered. "And Stiles is even worse."
"Don't drag me into your sibling quarrels." Stiles raised their hands in defense. For a moment it looked as if the Hales were gearing up for more but they too had a long weekend, especially Laura, so she let it be for the moment and instead asked Kira if there was anything she could help with in the kitchen.
"Just sit down, I'll bring it out." Kira waved her off. She'd been waiting for them for a while now, everything was set and ready. She'd wisely picked a one-pot recipe that only got better the longer it cooked. Stiles wasn't sure what they were eating but it was hot and spicy and warmed them up from the inside out. Just the right food for coming home after a long trip.
"Damn, now we have two of them." Stiles finished their bowl and fought the urge to lick it clean. "I don't have the metabolism of a werewolf, I'm going to become so fat. And I won't regret anything."
"Thank you?" Kira ducked her head. "I guess?"
"Yeah, that was a compliment," Laura confirmed. "That's how they express love. You'll get used to it."
Kira looked skeptical but that might be because of the pronoun. Most people were confused at first. However, she was dating a werewolf and she was not human either, Stiles doubted that gender-fluid was the most outlandish concept she'd ever encountered. Which reminded them …
"After Laura turned Erica the question came up when she'll clue you in about werewolves," Stiles said. "Turned out that these two failed to mention that you don't need to be clued in. I'm used to shit like that from Derek, by now I think he does it on purpose, but I'm very disappointed in you." They made a point of looking at Laura. "Anyway, how does a kitsune end up working in a gaming store?"
Derek had told them the basics about kitsunes, among other breeds of supernatural beings, but like always Stiles was interested in more than just the basics.
"There's not much to tell." Kira tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and threw a helpless glance at Laura. "I like gaming and I need to eat so when I saw that they were hiring, I applied."
"I was more interested in the kitsune part but fair enough." Stiles grinned at her.
"There's not much about that. I just live my life like everybody else." Kira shrugged. "You can ask Derek the same question."
"Believe me, they have." Derek made a long-suffering face. "You don't want to know what kind of questions they asked."
"Now I kind of do." Kira put her chin in her palm and looked expectantly at them.
"I like her," Stiles proclaimed. "But I'm too tired to go into that now."
"Thank you," Derek said sarcastically. Just because of that Stiles was tempted to bring up the knot question but Laura cut them off before they could make up their mind. Damn, they were tired.
Laura had kept Kira updated over the weekend but now she told her in detail about it.
Turning Boyd had not been part of the plan and for a brief moment, Stiles wondered if Erica was still beating herself up for almost killing him. That probably was one of the things they had to talk about, now that they had time for themselves. It would suck if that stood between them, especially since it hadn't been Erica's fault.
At first, Stiles participated in the conversation, somebody had to tell Laura that she shouldn't beat herself up over it either and that she did good as an alpha, what was with the Hales and guilt-tripping themselves anyway, but exhaustion caught up with them eventually and it didn't take long until they fell quiet.
"We should get going," Derek decided and dragged a half-asleep Stiles out of their chair. Stiles wasn't sure about the logistics but not much later they stood in their own bathroom and were mechanically brushing their teeth.
"Can we call in sick tomorrow?" They pleaded around a mouth full of foam.
"And leave Isaac alone with Coach?" Derek poked his head into the bathroom. "No way."
Stiles rinsed their mouth in defeat.
"Have we decided yet what we're going to say when Isaac asks about our weekend?"
"We sat on the couch and played video games?" Derek had to correct their path otherwise they would have run straight into the door frame. "You look the part."
Stiles glared at him but it felt more cross-eyed than anything else.
"And we have to come up with a story for Erica." Stiles padded over to the bed and with a yawn, they crawled under the covers. "Something about a new treatment. Something believable that does not include werewolves."
"We'll think of something." Even half-asleep Stiles could tell that Derek wasn't taking them seriously. "Now stop thinking and go to sleep already."
Derek slipped under the covers with them and turned off the lights. Stiles snuggled closer and a minute later they were fast asleep.
They woke up when Derek bolted upright in the middle of the night.
"Derek?" Stiles mumbled and blindly reached for him to get him to lay back down.
Derek didn't answer and he didn't lay back down either. He just sat there, panting.
"Derek?" More awake now Stiles propped themself up on one elbow. "What's wrong?"
When they reached for his bare shoulder, they found him trembling with cold sweat clinging to his skin. Now Stiles felt it too. There was something wrong in their mind, something with the pack. A wave of nausea hit Stiles and they felt dizzy all of a sudden. Something was very wrong here.
"What's going on?" Stiles sat up and had a look around but there wasn't anything amiss here. "Is that Boyd? Or Erica? It's Erica, right? The tumor …"
"No." Derek shook his head. He was just a dark silhouette against the rectangle of the window behind him but his distress was palpable.
"No, no, no!" He fisted his hair with both hands. "Not again!"
He threw his head back and howled out his pain in a wounded cry. Stiles wanted to join him. They wanted to cry out their anguish and didn't even know why. They felt Derek shift more than they saw it in the dark but there was no mistake that those were claws, shredding the sheets.
"Derek." The breath caught in their chest when Derek's eyes started to glow. "Your eyes. They're red."
Stiles doubted that he'd even heard them but then Derek sprang into action. He threw on some clothes and was ready to go not a minute later. Stiles hurried to keep up with him.
"What the fuck is going on?" Stiles demanded to know while they followed Derek out of the apartment.
"Laura," Derek barked out and took off running. He did wait for Stiles to get in the car before he speeded off but barely. It was the middle of the night so he got away with speeding but there were a few close calls. It didn't help with Stiles' nausea. If Derek didn't slow down they might puke in his car. There was still something very wrong with the part of their mind that was pack.
"What's with Laura?" Stiles finally managed to ask. "And what's with your eyes?"
"That's how Laura became alpha," Derek said in a toneless voice. It sent shivers down Stiles' spine. "When our mom died she became the alpha."
"She's fine, we just saw her a few hours ago," Stiles tried to reason. "I'll call her."
Laura didn't pick up. Neither did Kira.
Stiles tasted bile in the back of their throat. Derek had to be wrong, there had to be another explanation. But deep down Stiles knew that he was right. They had lost their alpha, that was the sickening feeling in their mind.
At his place, Derek jumped out of the car before it had come to a complete halt. Stiles tried to keep up with him but they didn't stand a chance against the werewolf who took the stairs four steps at once.
The door to the apartment looked as if somebody had opened it with a shotgun. No sign of a fight in the living room but noises were coming from Laura's bedroom.
"Derek?" Stiles called out for him before they dared to have a look into the bedroom. There had been a fight in here. A shattered lamp, a toppled-over chair, and bullet holes in the wall behind the bed. Stiles took in the chaos before they zoomed in on Laura.
Blood. So much blood.
With Kira and Derek kneeling next to her, Stiles didn't see much of Laura but they got a deja vu feeling here. Hadn't they lived through the exact same thing with Boyd just the other day? Instead of Stiles, it was Kira who was trying to keep her alive, though. Derek was on her other side, rapidly calling her name.
"Derek!" Kira yelled at him. She had splashes of blood on her chin, Stiles noticed. "Tell me when her heart stops again. Can you do that?"
Derek didn't answer.
"Derek!" Kira snapped her fingers in front of his face. Sparks of electricity jumped between her fingertips.
Now Derek did nod and tilted his head to listen.
"I'm calling an ambulance," Stiles said but if they were not mistaken, the sirens they were hearing in the distance were heading their way already. They made the call anyway, just in case.
"What happened here?" Stiles still tried to piece together how Laura had ended on the floor with what looked like a shotgun blast to her chest.
"That crazy bitch happened," Kira snapped. "Came in with a shotgun and started firing."
"Her heart …," Derek interrupted her, his face pale.
"Hands off!" Kira barely gave him a second to let go of Laura's lifeless body before electric light flickered under her palm on Laura's chest.
Laura's body convulsed when the electricity shot through her but when Kira let go of her again, Derek confirmed that her heart was beating again.
She had to shock her once more before the ambulance arrived.
Suddenly the place was crawling with people. Paramedics were taking care of Laura while Derek refused to leave her side.
Two police officers were going through the apartment in case the attacker was still here while two others tried to sort out what the hell was going on. One even tried to hold back Derek when he wanted to go with Laura. Stiles had a few words for that officer and in the end, Derek was allowed to leave with Laura, they would get his statement later at the hospital.
With Laura and Derek gone, the officers focused on Kira and Stiles. They found themself sitting at the table in the same chair as just hours before. It was surreal. Stiles looked over to Kira but she was just kneading her blood-coated hands, looking into the distance.